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This morning, the whole Japan stopped for a few minutes to watch the Solar Eclipse. You know how in the movies, when there is an alien invasion or a deadly comet approaching the Earth, all people suddenly stop whatever they were doing and point at the sky? Well, it was exactly like that. Very creepy and beautiful.

This picture is a courtesy of the Japan times and Mark Thompson.

I watched it from my balcony for a few seconds. I didn’t have glasses and my husband was particularly against me looking at it without protection so instead, I turned to the TV. It was on all the 12 channels. ^-^

Last eclipse took place 173 years ago in Japan so it was a very big deal to witness it. Some speculate that today at exactly 6PM the sky will turn red due to some sort of alignment with the Sun. I don’t know how accurate this prediction is, let’s see! ^-^

This year, I gave myself a promise to go see Tokyo’s Mercedez Fashion Week and then I almost missed it entirely. I was planning to shake some of my friends for invitations to the closed fashion shows but since most of them are during the day when the whole working Tokyo is.. well working (including moi), I felt too unmotivated to even bother.. Then, I wanted to go check new Mercedez connection building just to get the taste of the fashion fever that was in the air that week and then again, my husband canceled on me the very last minute so I decided not to go alone..

In the end, Ginza fashion show was all I saw this year. And seeing it was quite a challenge! By the time me and Sergey – my fashion friend, arrived to Ginza, it was already closed for access. I will never cease to be amazed at the zest of Japanese event organizers with which they keep public away from accessing a public event! The fashion show on the Chuo street in front of Mitsukoshi department store was supposed to be a public event open to see for the people shopping in the area. Yet, it was closed with white sheets of canvas that was held by an army of event clerks. You can see on this picture, just how many people they used to keep that sheets on and the runway was several hundred meters long!

So, we became creative and found a spot on the 6th floor of a nearby building. I could see most of the show before the event organizers spotted us and a bunch of other people watching the show from a non-designated location and forced us to go down. It was a really funny commotion. I used my best “I don’t speak Japanese” behavior so the guy who was pushing me, went down, learned a couple of English words, went up again and told me to leave. If that’s not an example of Japanese loyal commitment to their responsibilities, I don’t know what is.

Anyway, the show was weird. The clothes itself was beautiful, lots of Japanese denim outfits that I would love to have. Only, nobody announced the designers or labels. There was no pause between one collection and the next. The models just came out one after another in a long procession, walked the runway and disappeared again. So, I have no idea where to buy the denim jacket that I liked…:(

After the show, we went to check Mitsukoshi’s “New York runway” selection shop – my favorite place to shop for Alexander Wang, Vince and Catherine Malandrino (during the sales period of course, otherwise – no freaking way). They had a mini runway show of their own.

These are my three favorite looks from what they have shown. The floral shift dress with pockets is by a Japanese brand “Beautiful people”. I was sure it was an import but then I checked the official website and it is in fact a Japanese brand – very cute!

After Mitsukoshi, we went to check Issey Miyake’s flagship store called “Elttop tep” or “Pet bottle” in reverse. I have finally given in and bought a beautiful Bao Bao prism bag in pearly white. I love it! It is very comfy and when it folds it looks magical. I already got so many compliments, it is definitely a keeper.

Then, we went to check Ginza’s new and the world’s biggest UNIQLO store. It was huge, 7 or 8 floors high with lots of collaboration pieces. I liked Orla Kiely t-shirts but so did bunch of other people so I didn’t buy any..

Our final stop was new Dover street market that was moved from Omotesando to Ginza. It was very similar to “Opening ceremony” in Shibuya. Grotesque design gallore, a lot of space for just a few pieces of very expensive clothes and absolutely no customers. I am giving it a few months. ^-^ Although, it has survived all this time in Omotesando. Maybe it only needs a few customers a month to produce some sort of profit…

Oh, there was one more thing that was kinda Fashion week related. Midtown – the main venue for the event was celebrating 5 years anniversary so my Japanese model friend Meg invited me to join her for some champagne and window shopping.

There was a spectacular acrobat show and I think a runway that we managed to miss because we went upstairs to the Suntory museum of art that had free admission that day. I am sure the collection of Chinese and Japanese china artifacts was worth it. ^-^

So that was my Fashion Week. I didn’t see much but at least I didn’t miss it entirely. Next season, I will try to be more active. ^-^

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About me

Hey there, thank you for reading my blog. My name is Natalia and I am originally from Saint Petersburg, Russia. I came to Tokyo at 21 and stayed here since. I love everything about this marvelous city and this mysterious, sometimes silly, sometimes overwhelming country of Japan. I am a graphic designer, ex-model and TV presenter, new mommy and a curious explorer of life. I love art, literature, fashion and travel and these are the topics that get covered the most here. You are welcome to leave your comments as well as questions. I have tons of tips for you if you decide to travel to Japan so get in touch. ^-^